Electric coupler system



March 4,1930. G. A. MEAD ELEGTRIC COUPLER SYSTEM I 2 Sheets-'-Sheet Filed July so, 925

Filed July so, 1925' 2 Shouts-Sheet .2

502 and with a sw1 Patented Mar; 4', 1930 3 UNITED 3 GEORGE A;

PATENT OF MANSFIELD, OHIO, 1%.CORPORAT1ON- OF NEW JERSEY V nmioi'n'lt'ifd ooUPLEn SYSTEM 'Ap licationmed-sawed,1925i serial m5: 4?;07'81 invention relates to; coupling szy'stenns for carsendhas particular reference-to a sig na'l systemtoinchcate to the operator, when the carsa're uncoupled, whether theyare in a 5 safe=conclitin or not. This relates pamcw: lady to electrical-1y operated cars in which th'ere are electric circuits" passing through the car and terminating inthe exposettcontact'sin the coupler and which nnghtbeclanequipment assnchi it; the cite-nits terminate in' contacts--which are alive while the cars are man llIICOUplQCl'COHd'IUQHQ It-i'sfonn'd avisable in case of electrically I operated cars in which there are circuits tel minating in couplers to "introduce av swltch into .theelectric circuitsspas'sing through the caFa-n'd terminating in th'e coupler and having exposectcontacts, anct such switch is-intioclucedadjacent theencl'or ends of the car and so arranged that thecircnits to the couplers" maybe-opened orclosed at the will of-the operatori j t l y t vfIt sometimes happensthat two: coupled tormanfalthough thisis quite arare caseif cnnistancest I V V In order to avoid all such conditions l pro- Vicle Ineans which'williinclicate to the operatoruor others that the car" is not'cohplcl'and theswitch controlling the circnitsto the coupler isiclose'cl.

construction; combination and ar rangement ofsthe various pai'ts hereinfully described" and sh'own in the accompanying drawings. Infthevdrawings': Fig. -1 is a sldeview of a carframe with a=-'-'coupler'* mountedthereon adapted to elec tri'cally and 1 mechanically connect the cat's tch mounted npon thee-at body:

gerous-b oth' to operators, passengers or the carsmightsepairate"and for some reason or other the same not become known to 7 theme My invention resides in the new andno-Jel 2 is a top View ofthecouplei' head as such. 1

Fig. 3 is a" face VlGW of the coiipler head shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig? lfis a sectional View on" the line lt of Fig.

Fig. is a sectional View takenon the line 4 4 of Fig. 3'which show's'twvocoopetatihg' heads arranged'to-couple the cars electrically and mechanically.

Fig, 6fis diagrammatlcandshows the" at iangeinent' andconnechon of the various parts.-

' lntliep'refrted embodiment etty-men don 1 employ a niechanic alcat" conplei hav- 1 ing a sprin'g di'aft gearlwhich is connected to the'sillsQ ofaficanbody by means-0f chorage 3. The coupler is snpp ortefl ziclja cent its outer end from the sills QIby'meansOP a carrier "3 suppoi'ted'to thie sills-hy 'nieansof theslide'ba r ti Thecoiipler may bepivotally mounted to the anchorage-3' of rigidly mount e'cles the case demantlsj The coupler" is also provided with a couplei' head 5 jgiro'vicled with a fpivotally- In-onntd hook 6' tofengag'e with a" coTi-espondingfhook on coopei'ating head eon; The hooks aremov'ed to a -coupling po-' s tlonfby means otthe yielding springs 7'a11cl I provide a cam 8 pivotalljr mounted to move the hooks 6 to their uncoupled positioi'i ancl provide ahanc'lle 9 "i'o'1" op'efati'ng' thecainl a Onrop p'o'site sides ofithe con pler' 'h'eatt 51 have shown the electiieconplers 10 and 10 and have shownin F g. 3 these 'con1a1er's'p'rovidecl :with a pln ialityi of projectinghncl'ex posed contacts-w=a, b "-b, etci To' these .contactsywhiclfmay be of any nn'mhenre quired, are connectal train-"line circuitsfia's "A" and 13-; etc". Where it is possible I ptefet w connect the contacts which are the same" dis tance on'each side- 0f thevertical center line of the con-pier'and' inthe samevertical plane, as for instance, a'anct a, 0i" band t", together"v and B, as this ni'akes itpossibletG'ein I Y aconpling-system without the 'use'of we vei si'ng switch to stfai ghten" out the"coii'nected circnitsfl Connected as I have" shown it wi l be fapparent that there will bereqnire tt an-an MEAD;013"MANSFIELD?(31-3110 assienoeao' THE OHIO BRASS column. I

twice as many exposed contacts as there are train line circuits A and If a reversing switch is used to straighten out the circuits then there may be as .iany train line circuits as there are contads. in other words, the contacts from opposite sides of the coupler will not be cross-connected.

The coupler is shown as supplied with fluid air pressure system for operating the brakes such as the fluid train lines 11 and 12 and hese terminate in the cou )ler head 5 in the air connecting mechanisms 13 and 14.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that in place of positioning the electric couplers on opposite sides of the head that a single electric coupler containing the necessary contacts may be secured to the under surface or even the upper surface of the coupler head. l I have also shown as mounted in the electric couplers a special contact 15 which is adapted to engage with a dead metallic contact 16 on the cooperating coupler head. The contact 15 is held in an advanced position by means of a spring 17 held in position by a stop 18 insulated therefrom by the member 19. The projecting contacts a, a and h, b and also the special contact 15 are mounted in an insulating member 20 forming the front face of the electric coupler and the projecting contacts are arranged to reciprocate forward and back and are normally held in an advanced position by means of a spring with the exception of the contact 16 which is stationary and is for the purpose only of forming an impact member with which the contact 15 can engage, in place of engaging with the softer, insulating mem ber 20 and be forced to retract when two heads are brought together as shown in Fig. 5. Also mounted in one of the electric coupler heads and adjacent the contact 15 is a fixed contact 21 secured to the insulating member 20 and adapted to be engaged by the contact 15 when the couplers are in an uncoupled relation.

ltiounted in the car at some convenient position is an electrical switch S arranged to con trol the train line circuits leading to the electric coupler contacts. This switch may be of the knife blade type or it may be of a reciprocating type, or it may be of the drum type as I have shown in the drawings. This switch comprises a box member 22 in which are secured standards 23 and to which are rotatably secured the drum 2% by means of a shaft 25. The drum 24 usually of insulating material has secured thereto the contacts 26, 27, etc. Mounted in the box is an insulating panel 28 to which are secured contact brushes 29, 30, 31, etc. The operation of the switch is such that when rotated to one position the contacts 26 and 27 etc. will be in engagement with the contacts 29, 30 and 31, etc. and when the drum is rotated to its other position these parts will be disconnected and the connection therebetween broken. I have shown each adjacent pair of contacts connected as by means of the member 32 which connects the contacts 26 and 27. The drum may be operated by means of the handle 33 or it may be arranged to be operated by a fluid pressure cylinder.

In the particular arrangement disclosed I show the contact brush 30 as connected to a conductorfi i and the contact brush 29 is connected to a bell or buzzer E by means of the conductor 85. The bell E is connected to the reciprocating contact 15 by means of the conductor 36 and the fixed contact 21 is shown as connected to the ground by means of the conductor 37. The train line circuits A and B shown as leading from the contacts in Fig. 2 may be of corresponding lines A and B shown as connected to the switch S in Fig. (3 and from there they lead out of the switch and are connected to such apparatus as necessary.

It will be noted in Fig. 6 that if the train line circuits A and B leading from the contacts are connected to the circuits A and B at the switch S that if the train line circuits leading to the switch S are alive then the contacts in the face of the coupler connected to the train line circuits A and B would be alive for the reason that the switch S is shown in its closed position, but it will also be ob served that there will be a complete circuit from the trolley T which is invariably a grounded source of electrical supply to the ground G through the bell E and the contacts 15 and 21 and the connecting conductors and, therefore, with the switch S in the closed position as shown and with the coupler in an uncoupled relation the bell E will signal. If, however, the coupler is in an uncoupled relation and the switch S is in the open position then it will be noted that the bell will not ring and also there will be no connection between the train line circuits leading into the switch S and the train line circuits leading from the switch to the coupler contacts. It will also be noted that if two coupler heads are brought together in a coupled relation as shown in Fig. 5 and the switch S is in a closed position as shown in Fig. 6 that the bell E will not signal for the reason that the circuit through the bell will be open at the corn tacts 15 and 21, but the train line circuits will be complete through the switch S and through the coupled heads of the electric couplers.

here two coupled cars receive their energy direct from the trolley or have separate sources of current it will be apparent that having both cars equipped with the electrical contacts 15 and 21, as shown in Fig. 5, that a signal will be given 011 each car should the cars be separated with the switch in a closed position.

, I have shown a conduit 38 as leading from the coupler to the switch S and this conduit .may contain the, various cables leading from the'switch to the coupler heads and 10.

Modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art, therefore I wish to be limited only by my claims.

I claim 1. The combination in a car and electric coupler secured to the end of a car of a head, a coupling hook arranged to connect with a cooperating device upon impact, exposed electrical contacts upon the coupling. face of said head and insulated therefrom, conductors leading from the contacts, a current supply circuit to said car from a source of power, a movable contact upon the coupler head cooperating with a fixed contact forminga circuit controller and arranged to open an auxiliary circuit connected thereto when the head is coupled and to close the auxiliary circuit when the head is uncoupled, a manually operated switch to open andclose and control the circuits to the contacts and connect some of the conductors and the auxiliary circuit to the current supply circuit, an electrically controlled signal. connected to the auxiliary circuit and in series circuit with the circuit controller and the manually oper-' 'ated switch to indicate when the switch is closed and the coupler in an uncoupled relation to a cooperating coupler.

2. The combinat on of a car coupler and i an electric coupler mounted thereon and arranged to couple with cooperating couplers, contacts exposed on the face of the electric coupler, train circuits connected to the contacts, switch means associated with the electric coupler arranged to automatically operate the switch to open position when two couplers engage and to automatically close the switch whenthe couplers disengage, an auxiliary circuit connected to and partially controlled by said switch, a second switch connected to the train and auxiliary circuits and to a source of power'to connect-and disconnect. the circuits relative to the source of power at will ofan operator, the second switch closing the auxiliary circuit when it closes the train line circuits to their contacts and a signal operated by current in the auxiliary,

circuit to warn the operator that the second switch is closed and the cars are not connected. v

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

GEORGE A; MEAD. 

